Of Secrets and Smiles
by Lugian Before Swine
Summary: Romano has a secret and Spain is not going to stop pestering him until he shares. Fluffy Spamano oneshot.


Although Romano would vehemently deny it if anyone ever mentioned it to him, there was a distinct and highly embarrassing reason that he continued to practically live at Spain's house long after he had become independent. He had coped with the knowledge of it for a ridiculously long amount of time, and after an internal debate that had literally lasted a century, he had finally convinced himself that he was going to inform Spain of this reason. And today, he had decided, was the day he was going to do it.

Deciding on a time didn't make the actual admission any easier, though, and as the day went on, Romano became less and less sure that he would actually follow through with his plan. He had thought about how he was going to say it countless times (while blushing fiercely and pacing, usually), but now he just couldn't seem to find an opportunity to start that conversation.

And so, when the sun went down and Romano had still not managed to complete his task, he had pretty much given up hope and resigned himself to another few centuries of silent torment. He and Spain were sitting on the sofa, Spain spouting meaningless drivel while Romano fidgeted and sulked. When Spain's ramble finally came to an end, he looked over at Romano with a thoughtful smile and said, "There's something you're not telling me."

Romano balked, hesitating, but his resolve was gone and the day was almost over, anyway. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"It's obvious you want to say something; you've been acting strange all day. C'mon, you can tell me! I promise I'll keep it a secret!" If Spain had winked, Romano probably would have hit him, but as it was he just had a sort of pleading expression on his face, which was a weak cover for the grin that Romano knew was hiding underneath.

Romano toyed with the hem of his shirt, and it did not escape his notice that Spain was leaning closer to him, but he was not going to blush, dammit! "It's…it's stupid. You'll laugh."

This time Spain did wink. "Only if it's funny."

That set Romano off, and he seriously considered punching the poor idiot in the face, but decided against it, opting to yell at him instead. "You think everything is funny! There's no way you'll take this seriously. Stop bothering me about it!"

Contrary to Romano's instructions, Spain just leaned in closer, a pout forming on his lips. "Please, Roma, you can tell me! I—"

"Shut up! Leave me alone!" Romano was definitely blushing now, but there was nothing he could do about it. If the dumbass didn't realize what Romano wanted to say by now, there was little hope for it, anyway.

Spain mercifully shut his mouth at that. There was a moment where their eyes remained locked for a little longer than necessary, then Romano abruptly turned away and huffed out a little sigh. "Let's just watch TV or something, okay?"

* * *

Spain had managed to hold his tongue for the miraculously long time of 23 minutes. He understood that Romano needed his space and didn't appreciate him prying into his thoughts, but it was out of genuine concern that Spain questioned what was on his mind. Romano had been distracted and out of sorts all day, and Spain just wanted to know what was wrong so he could try to fix it. So, at a commercial break, he switched off the TV and asked, "Do you wanna tell me now?"

Romano rolled his eyes and groaned. The idiot sure was persistent, if nothing else. "What the hell, bastard! Just drop it! Just—" He paused and considered his actions. Maybe there was still time to carry out his plan. After all, Spain had figured out that something was on his mind, and it didn't look like he would forget about that any time soon. But it was so terribly embarrassing! He turned away from Spain and crossed his arms, steeling himself for what he was about to say, unable to help his flushed face and pounding heart.

Seeing Romano's reaction, Spain's expression softened. "I know I make fun of you sometimes, but it's only because I like you! You know that. If you say it's serious, then I won't laugh. I promise."

It appeared as though this was the best opportunity Romano was going to get. "…Hmph. Well. All right, I guess." He slowly turned his head and inched closer to Spain, a determined look on his face. This was it. The time had come. Unfortunately, the words he had so carefully prepared had completely disappeared from his mind in his nervousness. Well, he knew another way to go about this, and he had a feeling it would not be nearly as unpleasant as he had spent years trying to convince himself it would be.

He glanced from left to right, ridding himself of the vestiges of hesitation, and quickly lunged forward, planting a surprisingly well-aimed kiss on Spain's mouth. It lasted about a second before he retreated, turning his back on the other man and hoping that the message behind that particular action would be simple enough for even stupid Spain to understand.

There was a pause lasting a few brief seconds before an overexcited pair of arms wrapped around Romano from behind and a shrill and elated voice assaulted his ear. "I knew it! You do love me! I love you too, Roma, so, so much—"

He was interrupted by an incoherent mumbling from Romano.

Still grinning from ear to ear, Spain asked, "What was that?"

When Romano finally turned to face him again, his harsh words of "I said 'don't push it, idiot'" didn't have quite the same warning tone as he had intended, since they were accompanied by a rather dazzling smile the likes of which Spain had only seen a few times before.

The stupid smile was embarrassing, but Romano discovered that if he pulled Spain closer to him, he could hide it under the guise of giving him a hug.

But then it occurred to him that this hug didn't have to be a guise for anything, now that he had divulged his biggest secret. And if doing so meant that Spain would hold him like this forever, well, he was very happy he had.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia. All my fangirly love belongs to Himaruya.**

**A/N: Ooh, I put the A/N after the fic. This is very strange for me. Anyway, I'm not sure if I like this fic all that much; this whole scenario sounded cuter in my head. Regardless, thank you for reading!**


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